Crafts – Needlework – Page 27

As promised a few days ago, here are my photos of recent finishes:

Winter Wonderland by Little House Needleworks
Stitched on 32ct Golden Harvest linen by Silkweaver
with recommended threads

Blueberries by Little House Needleworks & Crescent Colours
Stitched on 32ct cream Belfast linen
with recommended threads

Also, here is LHN’s Sampler Lady in all her topless work-in-progress glory … she’s still waiting for her blouse to be finished, the poor love – it’s a good job the weather’s still warm down here in Sydney!!! 😉

Next up is a photo for Mum of my wee $9.95 Frangipani tree in its pot on the balcony – as you can see it has some company in the form of fresh herbs … I just adore those blue pots!! No flowers on the frangipani yet, but a new leaf has grown, plus it’s a wee bit taller than when we first arrived. My other (first) Frangipani plant isn’t doing too well since having its top knocked off by Nigel and Brenda’s dog, but I live in hope it might perk up a bit more by next summer before I replace it with something else.

Lucky last is my ‘new’ smalls display in the new flat – complete with my Wessex sampler on the wall – this place is fantastic for all the wall hooks!!

And I’ll finish my post there. Since being sick I haven’t had chance to do housework for two weeks, but once caught up I’ll take piccies of the new abode now we’re almost 100% unpacked (aside from the boxes in my bedroom of ‘unimportant stuff’).

Talking of which, I ended up leaving work early yesterday ‘cos I felt grotty (I survived an entire 1 1/2 hours!), and am now on antibiotics for about 13 days compliments of a local GP … fingers crossed it does the trick! 🙂

The other thing I haven’t spoken about is the excruciating heel pain I’ve been having over the last few months – it’s good to know my self-diagnosis was correct, and I have likely got plantar fascitis (spelling?). I’ve been applying ice packs and anti-inflammatories when it’s been really bad, and have since bought some orthotics for padding the heel that’ve been working a treat. Fingers crossed that my heel pains will soon be a thing of the past (or at least I won’t be woken up in the middle of the night from the throbbing pain!!).

Rightio, time to go chill out again … I’m doing my online things in short bursts …

Cross Stitch, Needlerolls, Works in Progress

A WIP and Car goes to the Dr

2 February, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Sorry I haven’t been online much but quite frankly I just haven’t felt like posting at all – the move was quite exhausting, both physically and mentally … I can’t believe that even my knuckles felt bruised and aching after all the lifting!!! Yesterday was the first day I could lift a box up off the floor again without groaning – geez it felt good 😉

Anyway, today I had an early morning start – my car is finally off to the mechanics on the other side of town. I really need my car, and to finally have a decent and fair mechanic looking at it is a blessing in itself. Brenda and Nigel have recommended their mechanic to me, and he seems like a really nice bloke so far. I’ve documented the entire history of what’s been going wrong with my car over the last 2 years, which will hopefully help shed some light on what’s wrong … if nothing else hopefully he can get the car windows to open again, which will be a bonus in the Sydney heat! And most importantly I hope he can get the dashboard light working again!! I upgraded my RACV membership to the “total care” package, which gives unlimited towing and breakdown assistance … but unfortunately it doesn’t exactly copy over to the NRMA in Sydney (which I didn’t realise) – I only get 8km free towing, and have to pay $4.40 per km over that … considering the mechanic is possibly just over 50km away, that’s gonna be a hefty towing bill!! Supposedly I can claim that money back from the RACV though, so that’d better be true, or I’ll be spewing big time!!

I have to admit I feel quite nauseous and ill thinking of all the money that’s being incurred lately – it’s all going on a credit card, but it’s still extra money I have to fork out every month in repayments. Our dramas with the removalists haven’t finished either – it turns out they delivered the wrong bike to us (I had no idea, as it was Lisa’s and she didn’t see it until she arrived) … and I’m missing one entire box, so I’m trying to make a list of all the things I can think of that were in it hmmm. Lisa’s away this weekend, but next week we’re probably going to write down a time line of everything that’s happened and send it to all and sundry, including possibly the TV show Today Tonight!

All this hassle and drama has seriously impacted on my stitching – I looked back at what I’d achieved in January stitching-wise and the only thing was that paltry little Xmas ornie stocking that I finished in one day! That’s very very unlike me!! The only other thing I started was Sweetheart Tree’s Wildflower Needleroll … the photo is basically the sum total of 3 days stitching (2 days from when I was sitting in an empty apartment, and 1 from a couple of nights ago) … it’s all quite pathetic really!

I get really enthusiastic and excited about all the designs I could be stitching, then feel exhausted about 5 seconds later and don’t end up doing anything – perhaps once the boxes etc are all entirely unpacked and I can move in my bedroom easily, then I’ll feel more settled and can get into a normal routine again. The lounge is a bomb site at the moment as well, as Lisa’s things are all piled up there, as well as some of my stuff that needs to be sorted out, so the clutter everywhere is probably affecting me. Lisa put her back out last weekend, and she’s been in agony all week, so we haven’t been able to do much around the place … but hopefully she’ll be back to normal again by the end of next week and we can make a concerted effort to get the place tidied up and organised.

The main challenge for me this weekend is trying to set up the video to Lisa’s TV … and get the legs onto the dining table, so the dining area can get uncluttered. I’m going to try and make an effort to take a couple of hours out to do some stitching – and need something quite ‘easy’ to stitch to help get me back into the swing of things (which won’t be the ST needleroll … that backstitching of all the leaves is doing my head in at the moment!! – mind you, once that’s finished there’s not much left before it’s totally stitched). It’s likely that I’ll either choose a small freebie or Xmas ornie, or start a new LHN or CCN design … but I must stitch “something”, or I’m going to kick myself hard!!!

Once the place is fully de-cluttered we need to invite our elderly neighbours up for morning or afternoon tea … I’d guess they’re both in their 70’s to 80’s, and seem really lovely old dears (Norma on the ground floor, and Barbara in the middle of us on the 2nd). We’re also setting up a calendar in the kitchen where we can keep track of all our house guests that will be coming over the coming year, so we don’t double-book … it’s going to be quite a social year if everyone comes that says they will be! 😀

Anyway, time to sign off for the day as I need to head to the Post Office before it closes … I’ve found out there is a tiny local branch just up the road at the shops, which is open on Saturday mornings – I haven’t been able to get to the PO since my car has been broken down, since moving here, to post some changes of address etc, so it’s great to find I can do all that on Saturdays now! I can still clear my mail in the mornings at Mascot before work, but the actual shop for postage etc isn’t open then.

Rightio, time to ‘shake a tail feather’ and do the morning duties … with luck Lisa’s bike will be returning this afternoon from Dodgey Brothers R Us, and I need to make sure I’m home all afternoon for their arrival … geez, they’re the last people I want to see today!!

Christmas Ornaments, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Works in Progress

A bit of Christmas stitching

26 December, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Day – here in Sydney I spent a lovely day with Brenda & Nigel, and Brenda’s sisters, nieces and cousin. As always Nigel did an awesome job with the food, and we all ate like Kings. The rest of the day was spent, in my case, stitching in front of the TV while we watched Scrooged and the final episodes of the Vicar of Dibley. I’m glad I went prepared and took a wee LHN design to start – it gave me something to do while everyone else was snoozing at odd times during the afternoon. And if I’d got all the DMC threads to hand, I would have almost finished it!! My needles were definitely smoking yesterday (and until 3am when I got back ‘home’ as I still couldn’t put it down). Here’s my progress so far – I just need to buy some more DMC (3371, 739 and 3011) then I can get it finished. Unfortunately I took a drive out to the shops today, forgetting that everything is still closed for Boxing Day, so it will be sitting unfinished for a wee while now as I’m back to work tomorrow.

Necessities Sampler by Little House Needleworks

Seeing as I can’t finish my LHN piece, I have no choice but to start one of my CA Wells pieces … which means I have to start concentrating on my stitching again yikes!!

On Christmas Eve I managed to finally put the finishing touches to a couple of ornies that were stitched during the first part of last year. I really really need to get back into my stitching routine so I can stitch a few more for next year! Anyway, here are the latest ornies in their finished state (I forgot to take a photo of one, which I gave to Kerrie at the weekend).

And here are two that Mum stitched for me, that I’ve also finally finished into ornies:

I’ll finish this post with photos of my friendly flatmates right now – they’re both so incredibly friendly and cuddly … the photos were taken from their visit onto my bed this morning 🙂

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Round Robins, Works in Progress

Christmas with a Bite!

23 December, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

My mail has finally started arriving in Sydney, after having a detour into Melbourne first – which means my Quaker Friendship Sampler has arrived home at last. I have to admit, I prefer other choices of colours after stitching on everyone else’s samplers, but I do still love this one … with its bright cheery colour! I’ll have to wait to post a piccie, because I’ve left it at Brenda & Nigel’s. Actually, I might pop over to the SAL blog and see if I can snaffle a piccie that Becky took of the finished sampler (cool, thanks Becky for post that piccie so I can borrow it!!):

Which also brings me to another job that is way, way overdue … believe it or not, I haven’t forgotten that I have promised to give away my original chart, and I made a quick list of all the people who originally put their hands up to go into the draw. Well I can finally advise that Judith is the lucky recipient of this chart, and in the New Year I’ll get it into the post for you (it’s currently packed up, so just as soon as I can get to it, it’ll be on its way to you).

Thanks for your patience everyone who put their hands up to go into the draw!

Which brings me to the next one … after finishing It’s Halloween by The Drawn Thread, I’m putting that chart up for grabs now as well. It has slight creases in the chart, but the chart is totally legible – it is just showing the strain of all that travelling between house sitting jobs in Melbourne!! Anyway, please leave a comment that you’d like to put your name in the draw, I’ll pull another name out of the hat (or via the list generator, anyway), in a couple of weeks time.

Yesterday I spent the entire day in my PJ’s and managed to get loads stitched on Snapperville … and I have to say it was the most amazing comforting feeling to be stitching again. I have really REALLY missed my stitching, and it helped to bring back a feeling of normality to my day. Uunfortunately I don’t have any Weeks Dye Works Hazelnut thread, or DMC 434, here with me, so I can’t put the finishing touches to this piece. Boohoo. I may have to take it with me on Christmas Day to Brenda and Nigel’s where one of my other kitted up projects is holding DMC 434 so I can get it finished. Right now, though, I just have the door left to be stitched in the final block, along with the final part of the border (a few swirls and one more tree). Fingers crossed this will get finished before the end of 2007!

Today no stitching was done, but instead we had a very social occasion out at Kerry’s place (Brenda’s best friend). Now, Mum, please do NOT read any more of this paragraph, as you’ll have nightmares for days!!! Nicely fed on a lovely BBQ, a couple of us were still sitting outside chatting about our previous European travels, while the rest of the group were inside the house … all of a sudden the guy opposite me says “oh my goodness, there’s a snake!” – I turned around in my chair, and sure enough there was a bloody great snake slithering over the porch, and it disappeared straight through the door into the kitchen! Thankfully no-one inside startled it, and no-one got hurt, but all of a sudden here was a mass exit of bodies coming back outside the doors carrying out all pets. Next thing Chris (the husband) put his steel-capped boots on and armed with a spade went back inside to keep an eye on it, along with Nigel who was armed with his camera to help keep guard (I’ll put some photos up just as soon as I can get hold of copies). A phone call was made for help, and eventually (about 3/4 hour later) the snake man arrived to remove the unwanted red-bellied black snake, who was about 5 feet long, and a very decent size in width. It’s the first snake I’ve seen in the ‘wild’ since moving to Australia, and hopefully the last one!!! It’s the first one Kerry’s ever seen, either, which makes me feel better that it’s not ‘normal’. Anyway, it was rather exciting and gave us something to chat about for ages afterwards … not to mention the humour when I nearly peed myself as Nigel dangled a rubber snake in front of my nose shortly after – payback is going to be a bitch for him one day!! 😉

Anyway, after seeing a bit too much of Sydney’s nature, it was time to head back home to chill out and relax … and in case I don’t get chance before the “big day”, I wanted to make a very quick post to say ………

ALL THE BEST TO ALL MY ONLINE FRIENDS, AND YOUR FAMILIES, FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON – MAY YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR, AND I WISH YOU EVERY HAPPINESS FOR 2008. IT’S BEEN A PLEASURE MEETING YOU ALL, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING OUR RELATIONSHIPS NEXT YEAR. WITH HUGE HUGS AND LOVE, xxx

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishing, Works in Progress

Oh heck – I made a big boo-boo!!!

10 December, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Note to self – don’t post your new address on the blog until you’re 100% concentrating and awake!!! My address is NOT PO Box 1306, but rather PO Box 688!!! Sorry ’bout that – a seriously major blonde moment!! Now you know why I don’t blog at the moment – I’m usually too shattered to think about it … and that’s the result!! Doh!!!

Anyway, just a really quick post again, to post some stitching piccies while I get the chance – I finally managed to put the finishing touches to these FUFO’s a week ago:

That may end up being the only ornie finished by me this year … such is life I guess …

Also, here’s the latest two finished blocks of Snapperville, plus the teensy start on block #5 – you’d never believe it’s taken two weeks to stitch just this part, would you? Yep, smokin’ needles is definitely a thing of the past for me for the timebeing – the only stitching I’ve been getting is about 2 hours on Sunday night ho-hum 😦

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Works in Progress

There will be no hope for me in Sydney!

24 October, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Oops, I just realised I’d started this post days ago, and I haven’t finished it off!!! … So I’ll start off with my original post ..

Check out what I’m going to have to contend with when I move … how am I going to keep myself amused? Check out all these lovely stores I’ll have on my doorstep in Sydney:

Tapestry Craft (this place looks massive!!!)
Dragonfly Dreams (I can see a weekend getaway to the Blue Mountains happening!!)
Crewel Gobelin (the only place I’ve been to so far)
Mosman Needlecraft
Craft Depot (for patchwork fabrics – they claim to have 8000 patchwork fabrics!!!)

And I already have a few offers of people that are going to come visit me while I’m up there – I’m really looking forward to having visits from my good pal Sharon, who was my first real stitching pal in Melbourne (I’m gonna miss you heaps!). Also one of the girls at work who is no longer talking to me ‘cos I’m leaving haha, is already planning a girls weekend away so we can see the sights during the day, go to the theatre, then party the weekend away – I’m excited already at all these upcoming social occasions, and I haven’t even moved yet! Of course, I’m sure I’ll be visiting Melbourne occasionally at the weekends as well … it’s only 11/2 hours by plane, which is great 🙂

Now I must say today I also spent more money that I shouldn’t be spending (yeah, so what’s new lately? haha) … and it’s all the fault of Rebecca (that friend from work who’s coming partying in Sydney) and Mel – I went on a buying spree to buy some Bud Ducks for them, as Highpoint Shopping Centre have an awesome selection … well, I walked in the door and found they’d just received shipment yesterday of some brand new designs … whaaaaa!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I have to admit, two of them came home with me … well, what’s a duck-mad girl to do??? The two that I bought for myself are these ones – International Duck and Angel Duck … how could I resist them?? The International “Mile High Duck” I just thought was so appropriate for me and my new job – travelling interstate, but also working in the travel industry … just wish my passport had all those visa stamps haha. And I also bought some teeny weeny little ones to come travelling with me – well, I gotta have at least ONE duck in my new room right? But then it’s not fair to let one duck make the journey all on it’s own, and it just HAD to have company! I really LOVE the blue Angel Duck – the colour is gorgeous. Check out these new little additions to my travelling kit:

And there are sooooooo many more that I really really want!! I guess you could call me the Imelda Marcos of ducks!!! 😀

As you can tell, there’s also no stitching happening at the moment … I just can’t stop yapping on here instead – plus spending 2 entire hours yapping to Mum on the phone today haha. Now I’m sat in front of the TV watching So You Think You Can Dance … perhaps I might find a needle to pick up … perhaps … 😉

Rightio, going by the TV reference to So You Think You Can Dance, I guess I started typing this on Thursday night last week … Now it’s time to update with the latest news!

As a matter of fact there has been a little bit of needlework happening out here in Pascoe Vale South – I’ve managed to finish off another block of Snapperville, and almost managed to complete the border around as well … a couple more hours and I’ll knock that off pretty easily. I must say after not having much stitching mojo for a while, I’m absolutely LOVING stitching Snapperville … I just don’t want to put it down! I think the Winter Snappers will be jumping on the Q-snaps quite quickly after I make the big move up north as well – I just love these little charts! 🙂

As for what else is news … I’ve spoken to someone from work who moved to Sydney a while ago, to see what his flatting arrangements are now (he used to flat with the girl whose job I’m taking over), and it seems he’s just bought an apartment and prefers to live on his own for now as his partner may be joining him in the future … but he’s said it’s OK if I get desperate that he’ll never see me go without a roof over my head and has offered ’emergency housing’ if I need to while I’m searching (Brenda has family coming over in the middle of December, so I have a maximum of 4 weeks to find somewhere).

BUT, I just had a phone message out of the blue today from someone else who worked with me 3 years ago – he’d just had lunch with a friend from my office who told him my news, and apparently he’s moving to Sydney as well and wanted to know what my planned living arrangements were going to be … I’ll have a chat to him over the next few days about it, as that could be another option – but that would probably mean having to freight my belongings up north … probably … Herc should also find out about his interview results by the end of tomorrow as well, which might be another living option (probably my preferred one overall, as Matt is quite young and a bit of a party animal, and I’m that much older and just looking for a simple quiet life) – anyway, time will tell, and at least there are a few more friendly faces in Sydney that I know from work … yippee!! 🙂

As for work itself, they haven’t approved my leave that I wanted, because it’s Melbourne Cup week and they can’t afford more people off the phones. They’ve given me Fri 9 Nov only, which is cr*p … let’s just say I’m a bit disappointed to say the least – it just depends who you are, I think, whether they want to make an effort to help out or not … and all I’ll say is that “I’m not Greek” … one of the Managers has a bad reputation for that – she’s Greek, and has a few family and friends that work there, and let’s just say they can get away with murder … that’s one thing I’m not going to miss – the office politics! I don’t usually let it get to me and turn a blind eye, but everyone thinks their decision is appalling due to the circumstances, especially after doing so much for the company during my time there – but there’s no point getting cranky about it, it just gives you ulcers and doesn’t change anything. Anyway, I’ve sent an email to the “big boss” in our office stating that if I can’t be given the extra two days leave, could I please use my 8 Luv Ya Work Awards in one day (the maximum is supposed to be 4, ie 2 hours off work) … that would let me leave 2 hours early which means on a 6am shift I could be hitting the road at midday. Now all we have to do is work out if it’s still worthwhile having Mum fly over and driving up the coast, seeing as we’re two travelling days short. Oh decisions, decisions …

As for Muffy here, I have to admit over the last few days she hasn’t exactly been endearing herself, and while I think she’s a beautiful dog on the whole, I have had the urge to turn her into a winter coat a few times … usually at 1am and 3am when I’m answering her pleas to be let outside. The occasional night isn’t too bad, but I had a moment there when it was 4 nights in a row, and I was feeling severely deathly because of it. Luckily the late night shifts have been perfect, because she goes outside as soon as I get home, and today I even got a sleep-in until just after 8am … 6 1/2 hours straight sleep … sheer bliss!! The fleas still seem to be a problem, but not quite as bad … I have managed to track down and drown 3 of the little b*ggers over the last couple of days though hmmm. Mind you, today she woke me up again at 7am, after 5 hours sleep, and I feel dreadful … I started losing my voice at work last night and getting bunged up, so I fear I have picked up a head cold … Muffy just decided it was time I should be up, and didn’t want to go outside at all … I nearly strung her up from the nearest fence!

I went to meet the menagerie of pets at the next housesitting job on Sunday night, and it’s going to be ‘interesting’ to say the least haha. Two dogs, two cats, two birds, and an aquarium of fish, all of which have various eating routines etc – but afterwards I can relax in the spa with a glass of wine, and watch Foxtel movies … I’ve told them I may change the locks and never leave! LOL.

Anyway, I’ll finish with a photo of a gift I received at work yesterday from groups organiser (this was for customer service over and above the call of duty for some VIP customers returning home … you can make up your own mind as to who) – I laughed at the card that came with it … that I’m allowed to hide it away when the Bledisloe Cup is on … but personally I think I’m going to pop an All Blacks beanie and scarf on old Wally and sit him on my desk – a perfect blending of my ‘two down under cultures’ 😛

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

It’s all out of my hands now …

12 October, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

What is, I hear you ask? Either that or the voices in my head are getting louder than normal! LOL. Today I flew up to Sydney for my job interview – I felt very special as I flew up in business class … but I didn’t expect to get home on time, as the flights were really full. My boarding pass wouldn’t go through the scanner at the gate, so I half expected I’d been offloaded … but it turns out I’d been upgraded on the way home too … wow!! 😀

The interview went by in a bit of blur, to be honest – I can’t say I blitzed it, as there were some questions in there I wasn’t expecting … but I did my best, and time will tell if it was good enough or not. They’re calling one of my referees either later today or on Monday, and they’re hoping to let us all know by Wednesday next week at the latest. At least I’ll know whether I need to start looking for a new flat in Melbourne or Sydney … and I’m working the next 5 days straight, so that’ll keep my mind off things 🙂

Last night I started putting a couple of stitches into the first Lanarte Sea Life piece while watching So You Think You Can Dance (I really enjoy that show) – I managed to start the seahorse, although I didn’t get too much done. Today I’m pretty shattered as nerves got the better of me during my sleep last night (makes a change to Muffy and the fleas keeping me awake!! haha), so I think it’ll be an early night for me and Muffy tonight. Here’s a picture of the four pieces that I want to stitch eventually, plus the tiny progress from last night.

I was supposed to start the Sailor’s Valentine by CA Wells next on my rotation list, but my concentration wasn’t quite ‘all there’ last night, so I daren’t start it … I thought it was better to stick to something simple instead.

Rightio, dinner has reheated, so it’s time to go and eat … plus Muffy is ready for round two of her dinner too (she’s being spoilt tonight, seeing as I had to leave her outside all day in the dreadful weather) 😀

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Itchy and Scratchy

11 October, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Yep, this household definitely fits the bill of those two characters from The Simpsons … I’m Itchy, and Muffy is Scratchy. I doped up the base of Muffy’s neck yesterday, although the scratching is still happening today. Apparently it can take 3 days to show the effects, so fingers crossed by the weekend she’ll be scratching less … which hopefully means that I will be too! Yet another broken night’s sleep last night thanks to flea bites and Muffy’s evening bladder … ho-hum 😦

I decided not to bother going driving to pick up my GAST threads today, but decided instead to send away and spend my $10 gift voucher from a previous order with Dragonfly Dreams to get Karen to send a skein of the threads I need. I figure by the time I spent the petrol on a 1-1/2 hour round trip driving session, plus the e-tag toll price, it just wasn’t worth it … so I’ve stitched as far as I can go without the gold Kreinik and two GAST threads I’m missing, and tomorrow night I’ll start my next project. The photo is really terrible, but you can get an idea of it anyway – at least when the threads arrive it’ll only take one night to finish the whole thing off 😀

Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

WIP photos

10 October, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

It seems I’ve thwarted my new mini rotation almost immediately … while stitching the first two blocks of Snapperville, I decided it would make sense to stitch the border parts surrounding them at the same time, instead of leaving all the border until the end. Aside from not getting bored with it at the end, that means I don’t have to keep moving the Q-snaps. Anyway, I’ve managed to complete blocks 1 and 2 before putting it away again yesterday.

Snapperville by Bent Creek

Then I picked up and started It’s Halloween – I was doing pretty well, too, until I realised I hadn’t packed my GAST threads that I needed … so it looks like I’m either going to have to drive out to a LNS to buy two more skeins, or make a trip to my storage unit on the other side of town (a 1-1/2 to 2 hour round trip hmmm). What a pain in the proverbial! I really wanted to get this one finished by the end of tomorrow boohoo. Anyway, here’s the progress from yesterday …

It’s Halloween by The Drawn Thread

This was done while watching Season 2 of NCIS … love that show! I was also watching Spanglish, but the DVD won’t play the last couple of scenes, so I’ll have to hire it from somewhere so I can see the ending (and also the DVD player here played it in black and white ho-hum … I’ve been playing everything on my laptop ever since).

Another semi lazy day here today – the laundry is getting done, then Muffy and I will head out for a walk before I settle down for a bit more stitching while I get the chance 🙂

(Updated to add …)

I keep forgetting to post this piccie for Mum – this is the latest Christmas fabric I’ve got for us (from a couple of weeks ago) … plus this is probably the fabric I’m going to use for the Plateau de la Brodeuse design. It’s still a bit pink for my tastes, and I’m not entirely ‘sure’ about it, but so far it’s my current choice – I’ll keep checking out a few more patchwork stores first, though, before I pull the threads out and start stitching …

Also, to answer the question a couple of you have asked … the threads Nicki has chosen for her RR piece are: Silk n Colors Cerise Noir, Dinky Dyes Jarrah, and Hand Dyed Fibers Chocolate.

Now I’m off shopping for flea treatment and antihistamine cream … I’m covered in itchy bites compliments of that big ol’ flea bag Muffy … drove me mad trying to sleep last night … mutter mutter mutter … I have to say, though, that I’m loving having Muffy’s company. She’s a lovely dog, and I’m even more of a dog person than a cat person (I was never allowed one as a child, but that was the ultimate pet I always wanted) – it’s lovely having her cuddled up on the sofa next to me while we watch DVD’s … until the scratching begins LOL 😉

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Works in Progress

Not much stitching going on

21 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

In fact, not much of anything going on!! I’m on my final shift today of 4 weeks of late shifts (6pms, overnights, 4pms, etc) – and as usual in this part of the roster I’m fighting a migraine and feeling quite generally like death warmed up, and have been all week 😦

Even though I haven’t been online too much, I haven’t been stitching a great deal over the last few days either – I do, however, have a stitching progress piccie from the other day that I can post … I was hoping it would be a finish I would be posting by now, but this will have to do. This is the infamous plastic canvas project – and I have to admit I’ve hated every single stitch I’ve put into this damned thing! After getting RSI years ago, I’ve found if I hold a hoop etc in my hand for very long, my hand cramps up (I now stitch using a lap or floor frame with scroll bars) … well, holding plastic canvas is worse for me. Even though I got suckered into stitching this one for my friend, I did say I’d do it, so here I am finally getting it out of the way – I have a day off work tomorrow, so I think I might just stay in my PJ’s all day and sit and get it finished. Then I just have to stitch her Winnie the Pooh bookmark (which isn’t even started yet) then my commitment is all over red rover … phew! (Mind you, I have to pick up some more DMC 702 to finish this one off – because I’m stitching it all with a tent stitch type stitch, I’m using more thread – but it’s the only way I can get my needle under the back of the threads without having a temper tantrum!!)

Emails have still been arriving, though, while I’ve been offline – which is making my wishlist grow ever longer haha. Here’s some more enabling for you {{insert evil laugh here}}. Here’s the latest collaboration piece from The Cat’s Whiskers & Dinky Dyes – I love it!

Also for those that I’m starting to enable towards the Group Correspondence Courses at the Embroiderers Guild of America, here’s the link to the entire education page of GCC’s {{insert second evil laugh}}. I’ve just succumbed to getting one more project (yeah, as if I need any more!!) – this one has been on my wishlist for a few years now, and it’s finally retiring at the end of December to make way for new classes starting up … well, I could hardly NOT sign up for it now it’s my final chance ever, right? Well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! ;P

GCC Florentine Christmas Ornaments

I’m actually a member of the Cyberstitchers Chapter of EGA, and because we’re a very spread out group, we get many many opportunities to sign up for GCC’s throughout the year (everything is mailed out, and a Yahoo group set up to chat about the project and discuss any problems etc) – as well as a chatty Yahoo group to keep in contact with everyone in general. If you don’t have an EGA Chapter near you to attend face-to-face meetings, I’d highly recommend it – and they take PayPal for the membership dues and course fees, which is awesome for those of us “across the pond” 🙂

I’ll finish off my quick post with a shot of Ally cat (she’s a real lady, too, Ally just like you! – definitely a perfect housemate!!). Ally doesn’t even meeow, never mind hiss … and she enjoys a quiet cuddle every now and then, but mostly she’s left to her own devices and spends most of the time dozing around the house. The house is a beautiful villa, and I spent a lovely morning at the start of the week sitting on the front porch in the sun with my stitching before I went to work … sheer heaven.

And on that note, I’d better start making tracks ready for today’s day at work. I need to drive by my storage unit to pick up some DMC that the local store didn’t have (for the infamous plastic canvas) – luckily it just means driving a bit of a roundabout way to work, it’s not majorly out of the way. I’m also dumping my duvet inner back into storage for a wee while too ‘cos it fills my car boot up and I end up having to put my suitcase etc on the back seat … I should actually take a photo of my travelling kit … I always feel quite sad when I look at it and think about all my lovely stuff in storage – but it’s a means to an end, I guess, and I just have to keep remembering that!

Rightio, onward and upward – into the shower I go then off to work … did I mention, it’s the LAST ONE?? WOOHOO!!!! Apart from the 4 hours overnight on Sunday night, of course, but that’s my own doing … I’ll be kicking myself later, I’m sure, but at the moment I’m putting my name down for overtime left right and centre to try to give the finances an extra kick (buying all these GCC’s aren’t really helping the cause – thanks overtime for giving me the option though!).